September 16, 2015 Non-profit offers insurance advice to fire victims Those who have been left homeless by the Valley Fire will now start the arduous task of getting their homes and lives rebuilt. If your house burns down you can count on at least a year before you are back in your place and for…
September 14, 2015 Free app aims to help you prepare for a major disaster During disasters we are often reminded of the things we should do to prepare just in case. One of the most important things anyone of us can do is to make a list of everything we own and there are many apps out there that…
September 9, 2015 Homeowners in high fire-risk areas are upset over soaring insurance rates Soaring insurance rates may accomplish what the Telegraph fire failed to do: drive the Stoffan family from their home of 10 years. The Stoffans’ Northern California house survived the 2008 blaze, which destroyed 30 homes and 100 other structures as it charred 53 square miles…
September 4, 2015 Price Optimization: Pennsylvania is the Latest State to Prohibit the Practice While the NAIC Works Towards a Final White Paper Published August 27, 2015, by Susan Stryker “Price optimization,” a long-established economic concept, generally refers to the application of mathematical techniques using data to address pricing at a more granular level. Price optimization in property and casualty insurance ratemaking, or what has been referred to…
August 31, 2015 Give it back? Homeowners who got Hurricane Sandy repair funds may have to repay ‘Build It Back’ money Sandy-ravaged homeowners who got “Build It Back” funds for repairs might have to repay the money because of Draconian HUD rules — even though federal bungling is what drove many to the program in the first place. As many as 3,000 homeowners — one-third of…
August 23, 2015 How much credit affects your home insurance rate may surprise you Credit is playing an increasingly important economic role in Americans’ lives these days, and according to a recent study, your credit history can be a major factor in what you pay for home insurance. For the second year in a row, a Quadrant Information Services…
August 20, 2015 Statement of California Health Advocates and United Policyholders Public Hearing: Minnesota Department of Commerce – Long-Term Care – Rate Increases and Policyholder Protections In late August, 2015, the Minnesota Department of Commerce convened a hearing to assist the Department’s fact-finding effort on long-term care insurance industry issues. The hearing provided consumers, insurance companies, and other…
August 20, 2015 A Disaster Damaged Your Home? How to File a Successful Insurance Claim The TV commercials make it look so easy: You experience a disaster and, like magic, your insurance company swoops in and solves all your problems. Unfortunately, say consumer advocates, it rarely works that way in real life. Instead, if a disaster such as a fire,…
August 18, 2015 What does my credit rating have to do with my driving? Most auto-insurance companies use your consumer credit rating as a significant factor in determining what rate to charge you.Who knew?Maybe you. But two-thirds of customers didn’t know, according to a Government Accountability Office survey. Spokesman Mike Barry of the Insurance Information Institute, an industry trade…
August 17, 2015 ServiceMaster and Water Damage Claims Couple Recalls ‘Leaky Toilet Nightmare’What started out as a leaky toilet turned into a local couple’s worst nightmare. They got into a battle with their insurance company and are now suing.It is a case their attorney says could affect hundreds of thousands of homeowners.Ora Tamir…
August 17, 2015 Homeowners Insurance and Common Natural Disasters No matter where you live in the United States, there’s a good chance you’ll have to deal with one or more natural disasters or severe weather events. After all, every part of the country experiences at least one peril or another—in some cases, it’s hurricanes…
August 12, 2015 5 ways to cut medical bills long before you stick out your tongue and say “ah” Medical costs can still be confusing and startling. But as transparency becomes the norm, we should be able to get a price quote before undergoing a medical procedure, know the amount our health insurance will cover, and even solicit a package price from the hospital.…
August 11, 2015 Springs renter hopes flooding nightmare can become lesson for others Annaleen DeHaan came home to a nightmare Monday evening. Her home on the east side of Colorado Springs was devastated by floodwater. “My mom calls me and is like, ‘So, the house flooded. I have a foot of mud and water,’” DeHaan said. “I kind…
July 30, 2015 BACH TALK: Annuity “Whack-a-Mole” It seems like every time you turn around, insurers are peddling a new type of super-complicated annuity whose internal levers and formulae make it virtually impossible that the buyer will collect the promised benefits in their lifetime: Equity-indexed annuities, Medically Underwritten Annuities, Contingent Deferred Annuities…the list goes…
July 29, 2015 Friends in high places – Congratulations Sallie Clark! If you follow UP’s work, you know that the relationships we build with public officials in disaster areas are an essential part of how our small staff serves so many consumers far from our base in San Francisco. El Paso (Colorado) County Commissioner Sallie Clark…
July 29, 2015 Guess who’s turning 50? Medicare, the program that remains essential for many American’s health and lifestyles, turns 50 this month. On the positive side, pressure is mounting to amend the absurd rule that prevents the program from negotiating prescription drug prices with drug companies. On the negative side, consumers…
July 17, 2015 Class sues State Farm for manipulating homeowners with water damage Insurer directed claimants to repair services it had under contract to hold down costs, class action states. A putative class action accuses State Farm Insurance, the nation’s largest property insurer, of willfully directing homeowners to substandard water damage repair services, bolstering the company’s bottom line…
July 16, 2015 Bach Talk: In praise of contingency fees With surprising (and sad) frequency, United Policyholders hears from senior citizen victims of unfair insurance practices. And as hard as it is for me to understand businesses and people that intentionally take advantage of the elderly – let alone those who lose their homes in…
